FIA President Max Mosley was in charge of proceedings which included discussion on a wide range of sporting and mobility issues. Mosley himself will remain FIA President until the next election in 2009 and the voting procedure for this was one of the topics under consideration.

Under the current format, the President is elected on a list alongside a pre-constituted team in the same way as a Prime Minister appoints his cabinet. Delegates at the General Assembly debated on the size of this list and it was agreed that a Working Group would be formed to discuss whether to refine the system in 2009.

The Assembly then ratified decisions made during the two World Councils for mobility and motor sport.

In the World Council for Mobility and the Automobile (WCMA), whose members consists of the FIA President, Deputy President Franco Lucchesi and Vice-Presidents from all four FIA regions, the main results of the Mobility Plan were discussed. The Mobility Plan is a three year public policy programme which concentrated on Road Safety in 2007 and will focus on the Environment for next year’s campaign work. The Assembly unanimously ratified the ‘Make Cars Green’ Declaration which will guide the bulk of the FIA’s policy work for 2008.

Commenting on the Declaration, Mosley explained that a strong link would emerge in this area between the sporting and mobility sides of the FIA, particularly through the development of new technologies in motor sport.

He outlined the contribution expected to be made by Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS), which will soon be introduced into Formula One. The KERS devices will recover energy from the cars during braking, store that energy and make it available to propel the car forward. Mosley hopes that with motor sport encouraging manufacturers to develop these systems, it would speed up the introduction of eco-friendly hybrid technology in road vehicles.

“There is a determined effort on our part on your behalf to move this research into a useful area,” the FIA President told delegates.

Another key item discussed at the Assembly covered the investment of the $50+ million which will be paid to the FIA following the judgement of the World Motor Sport Council on 13 September. This will be used to establish the FIA Development Fund, which will assist the work of National Sporting Authorities (ASNs) in promoting the development of safer motor sport worldwide, especially in countries where the motor sport infrastructure is in need of support. 

Mosley said that this charitable fund will help to develop “the grass roots” of motor sport. As he put it: “Some countries in the world really need help in upgrading their facilities – some even find it difficult to run a karting track and it will be important to address this.”

On the Mobility side, the FIA will have a new Secretary General, Susan Pikrallidas, who will be based in Paris. Pikrallidas is no stranger to the FIA as she is currently Vice President of the Automobile Association of America in charge of Public Affairs, and brings with her vast experience from her lobbying activities in Washington.

Also during the Assembly the FIA and agreed the draft budget, and the calendar for 2008. In a slight break from tradition, next year’s General Assembly was fixed for the first week of November, rather than the last week of October.